Practically, ever since acoustic guitars have been manufactured, the method used to anchor the guitar strings to the guitar body have been by means of tapered pins which are installed, along with the guitar strings, into tapered holes through the bridge, soundboard, and bridge plate. The tapered pins entrap the ball-ends of the guitar strings to the under-side of the bridge plate. The problem with this method is that the guitar strings from the bridge saddle to the string anchor points contact wood at high forces, which causes the wood to deform. And since the entire guitar string encounters variable tension in unison with the string vibration, any contact of the guitar string or guitar string ball-end with wood will attenuate the string vibration with resultant loss of sustain, volume, and tonal quality.
The following U.S. Patents attempt to rectify the attenuation problems with acoustic guitar strings:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,202,240, Gerald Dickson, Oct. 19, 1999
U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,508, Yairi Kazno, Nov. 17, 1987
U.S. Pat. No. 5,661,252, Kazimere Marian Krawczak, Aug. 8, 26, 1997
U.S. Pat. No. 4,202,240 utilizes a cantilevered bridge pin which offers a compliant anchor point, and would cause rapid attenuation of the guitar string vibration.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,508 does provide the guitar strings clear passage from the saddle to the string anchor point. However, the anchor is wood with tapered pins which is a much more compliant method than used in my invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,661,252 has some good points, such as a clear passage for the guitar strings from saddle to anchor, and a non-compliant material for the anchor. However, the anchor is a cantilevered beam which would bend as a result of the guitar string force of approximately 180 pounds. This would result in rapid decay of the string vibration, and almost the total loss of guitar string ball-end energy which is reacted into the guitar neck attachment structure rather than the soundboard.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an efficient method of transmitting guitar string vibratory energy into the guitar soundboard.
It is another object of the invention to provide a method of reducing the string attenuation problems of current guitars.